The second Commissioning Service Operation Vessel (CSOV) in the Skywalker series, ordered by IWS Fleet, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Norwegian company Integrated Wind Solutions (IWS), has hit the water.
The first steel for the IWS Windwalker vessel was cut in March 2022 at the China Merchants Heavy Industry (CHMI) facility in Jiangsu, China.
The company expects the second vessel, IWS Windwalker to be ready for commercial operations in the early first quarter of 2024.
In March 2021, IWS signed newbuild contracts for the two purpose-built, walk-to-work CSOVs with CMHI, through its Oslo-based subsidiary Awind.
The vessels are purposely designed to support commissioning works during the construction of wind farms, as well as supporting operations and maintenance during the lifetime of offshore wind farms, both bottom-fixed and floating, according to IWS.
The company said that these hybrid-powered vessels would be among the first in the industry capable of zero-emission operations.
The CSOVs are designed by Kongsberg Maritime and will be equipped with a fully compensated gangway and crane from MacGregor.
The first of the two, IWS Skywalker, is already launched and is currently undergoing outfitting to be ready for operations this year.
In 2021, IWS Fleet secured its first contract with the Dogger Bank consortium for the chartering of the CSOV, which will be used during the commissioning of the 13 MW GE Renewable Energy Haliade-X turbines on the first two phases of the wind farm, Dogger Bank A and B.
A year later, in March, Dogger Bank Wind Farm notified IWS Fleet of its intention to sign a charter contract for one of its Skywalker class CSOVs for the third phase of the offshore wind farm, Dogger Bank C.